


quiet and falling

by tikii



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Grief, Hurt/Comfort, Mourning, Multi, Slaps knee, Spoilers for chapter 9 !!!, Supportive Claude (tm), They/Them Pronouns for My Unit | Byleth, aftermath ; i named it after a track in celeste, and falling into dispair :', and now idk what to name it, bc byleth is Quiet, but preffered planonic bc this is Before the timeskip yknow, i had this as 'fire emblem three houses but Ouch', idrc, you can read it as either romantic or platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-27 12:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20407420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tikii/pseuds/tikii
Summary: in which byleth finds help in an unexpected ( but unwelcome ) person





	quiet and falling

**Author's Note:**

> fire emblem three houses is ruining my life  
i hope you enjoy this jumble of words i put together - if i made any mistakes please tell me !

Sothis was a big help. Without her, Byleth probably wouldn’t have made it through the first week. 

She allowed them to… just let it out. Byleth had never really experienced… grief or loss of someone close to them. They didn’t know their mother, and their father never really let them get close to any of the mercenaries because he knew that anything could happen to them at any time. 

This was like a blow to the head. The person who… raised them, took care of them, helped them, urged them on, gave them tough love and  _ cared  _ about them - taken away with the simple thrust of a blade.

Byleth should have known something was up. 

For at least three days, Byleth stayed in their room - the first day used to process, the other two passing in a blur, but consisting of talking to Sothis and them crying it out,

(They’ve never experienced such emotions like this. They wished they didn’t have to.)

On that fourth day, Sothis managed to convince Byleth to go outside and do something - talk to someone else, go look for whatever Jeralt wanted them to look for - she just wanted them to get out and do something. And of course, she followed them for a while, wishing that people other than Byleth could see her glares as they stared at Byleth. 

(“Seriously! People have no common courtesy! Staring is rude - I even remember that. And I hadn’t even remembered that I was a goddess!” She huffed, trying to pull even the smallest smile out of Byleth. They didn’t even acknowledge her besides a small side eye.)

After reading Jeralt’s diary and taking it back with them, Byleth just… sat on their bed and stared at their calendar. They were about to miss about a week of teaching… and they doubted the substitute would do any good. Byleth probably just had to… suck it up and teach. Insist they were fine - try not to break. 

(Why were they feeling -  _ why were they feeling? _ ) 

(They didn’t want to feel. They wanted to go back to the way it was - when Jaralt was alive and they were with the mercenaries and away from the church  _ and not feeling _ .)

Sothis watched silently and sadly from the corner of their room, wishing she could do something to take their pain away. Grief… was sometimes paralyzing for humans - she knew that much. And it seemed to have paralyzed Byleth. 

(So… even the strong can fall, she mused to herself, then shook her head to rid the thought. Now was not the time for that.)

“Hey…” She was about to say, but there was a knock on the door, startling both of the room’s inhabitants out of their thoughts. Sothis retreated back, and Byleth stood up, wiping away the tears they hadn’t even known were rolling down their cheeks.

“Hey, Teach?”

_ Claude. _

_   
_ “Hey, Teach! It’s me - Claude. Although, I think you already knew that - you could probably recognize my obnoxious voice from miles away.” He paused to chuckle. “I haven’t seen you around, Teach - and I’m not gonna lie, it’s concerning me. I know what you must be thinking-” Claude deepened his voice, and Sothis saw a little sparkle of light and recognition light in Byleth’s eyes. “‘Claude? Concerned? Why, does he have a fever? Is he okay?’ I’m going to assure you, Teach, that I am perfectly fine - but you, on the other hand, are not, and it takes a lot to concern me, Teach.” Claude chuckled again, but it was now nervous and… a little sad. “Just know… if you ever want to talk to me, my door is always open for you. And I’m sure a lot of other students feel the same way. You don’t have to reply or open the door but… it would be nice to have a little sign that you’re listening.”

Byleth hesitated, and Sothis could see how much their hands were shaking. She floated forward, tilting her head to the side, speaking because she knew only they could hear her. “Just give a couple of taps. Just… something.” She smiled lopsidedly. “He seems like a considerate young man.”

With shaking hands, Byleth managed two knocks on the door before stepping back, practically glued into place. They could practically hear Claude break into a grin. “Great - thanks for that. I mean it - if you need anything, we’ll all be here for you. And, the faster you come back, the faster you can teach us - Alois is an absolute  _ mess  _ of a substitute teacher. He’s already broken a bookshelf.” Claude snorted, then knocked twice on the door like Byleth had done. “I’ll come back tomorrow to check on you, Teach. Until then~” 

There was the sound of wood thudding, murmuring, and then… silence. Sothis crossed her arms with a small frown, her voice breaking the silence. “Hey - you should probably lay down. Standing there will only tire your legs, and I don’t really want you - us - collapsing again.” 

After a little bit, Byleth waddled back to their bed and laid down, their back turned to Sothis. 

Sothis let out a small side and retreated again, deciding she would try and get Byleth out again in the morning. They couldn’t stay cooped up in here all day for days - it wasn’t healthy. She had to make sure Byleth ate, too - and cleaned, and took care of themselves. 

She hated how all their… progress with emotions had suddenly been reversed. Byleth was… rather lively - for their standards - ever since coming to the monastery. Little smiles, small hums, heck - even a couple of chuckles here and there if they felt like it. Now, they were just… a fraction of what they were.

“A pity…” Sothis murmured to herself. “I can only hope things get better with time.”

\---

The next morning, Sothis floating alongside Byleth as they made their way to the dock to fish. Sothis had woken them up at around ten, squealing excitedly about some kind of new fish that was discovered and that they had to catch to show to Flayn. Byleth was reluctant, but finally complied.

(They had to do something they really liked and that was normal, Sothis had thought to herself. Humans like normal.)

Because Byleth was… well, Byleth, they caught the fish on their third try, got a dazzling grin from Flayn, a reassuring couple of words and then was all alone again.

Again, Sothis was about to speak, but a familiar voice rang out in the air that made both the invisible goddess and blue-haired professor jump.

“Teach!”

And there he was - Claude jumped down a whole flight of stairs, just to stumble and crash into a wooden pole. Anxiety spiked in Byleth’s chest, and they were about to ask if he was okay, but Claude just brushed it off and waddled over to the professor with a bright grin. “Hey, Teach! I hope you can forgive that… display.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and Byleth blinked. Claude pouted in reply. “C’mon, Teach - don’t give me that look. That’s the - ‘I’m slightly disappointed in you’ look, and I haven’t gotten that look in two months! Well… I’ve gotten it now. I owe Hilda gold now…”

“Seems like he really knows you.” Sothis commented, leaning slightly on Byleth’s shoulder. Byleth gave a small shrug of their shoulder as a subtle response to Sothis as Claude continued. 

“ANYway, you look really pale - when’s the last time you ate? Wait, no, don’t answer that question - I’m taking you to the dining hall. We’re getting you something to eat.”

Byleth blinked again, now a little nervous. People would be at the dining hall… and people meant stares. And stares meant pity, and Byleth didn’t want pity-

“Relax, Teach - we can eat back in my quarters if you want. I know stares are hard sometimes - just take a walk with me, yeah? You need some sweet, sweet vitamin D!” Claude linked arms with Byleth and grinned. “Can I get a wahoo?”

Sothis cheerily said ‘wahoo!’ while Byleth stilled, not able to push the word out of their throat. Claude smiled reassuringly. “No need for that now, Teach. I’ll provide plenty of ‘wahoos’ for us down the road - and when you’re ready, you can provide too. Onward!” 

Claude made a big spectacle of letting go of Byleth’s arm and trying to jump up the stairs, but ended up falling backwards once again. Byleth caught him in the nick of time, of course, but didn’t have enough time to hide the ghost of a smile that had begun to tug at the corners of their lips. Instead of teasing them for it, however, Claude grinned and began chattering excitedly about the new book about the goddess that he had found, filling the silence with comfortable banter. Byleth listened silently - like they always did - and sometimes, Sothis chimed in too. 

“He seems to care a great deal for you,” She said when Claude dashed into the dining hall to get food for the both of them. Byleth nodded, their face expressionless. Sothis giggled. “It’s nice to see that some humans have compassion.”

Claude came walking back two minutes later, balancing two plates on his hands. “I figured we could eat in the garden! It’s nice, secluded, and is also outside, so you can get some fresh air and sun for a little bit. Follow me!” The brunet marched on, and Sothis glanced at Byleth, only to find that the small smile forming on their face had disappeared as fast as it came. She sighed softly and began to float ahead.

“Let’s go.” 

Soon, Byleth found themselves sitting on a small grass field near the monastery, poking at their food as Claude chattered about whatever was on his mind - the church, the new bow he had gotten - anything that crossed his mind. Byleth’s eyes flickered over to Sothis, who was off examining the small patch of pretty pink flowers. Claude followed their eyes and chuckled.

“Interested in the flowers, are we, Teach? Here.” Claude stood up and walked towards the flowers. He stopped, picked out a flower and knelt in front of Byleth, who was staring at him with slightly wide eyes. “Relax, Teach - trust me.” With a grin, the brunet tucked the pink flower under Byleth’s ear. “There! They always told me light pink and dark blue went well together, but now that I’m seeing it I actually believe them.”

Byleth couldn’t  _ not  _ smile. 

\---

Sothis thanked whatever other goddess was out there that Claude had come by when he did. Byleth wouldn’t have eaten without him - Byleth wouldn’t have walked out of their quarters or cleaned them either. Every day, Claude had come to Byleth’s door and spoke for a while, eventually coaxing Byleth out of their room and outside where they did activities that were… normal for them. Drinking tea, gardening in the greenhouse - heck, Claude even got them to teach for two and a half hours. The best part was that Claude wasn’t pushy - he seemed to… understand the process of grief and loss, and gave Byleth time to themselves as well. 

There were times when things got… bad. When Claude was a couple of minutes too late and Byleth would break down in the confines of their own room. Sothis could only silently and sadly watch, most of the times barley conscious to comfort and console. On these days, Claude would stay on the other side of the closed door, not begging to be let in, or for Byleth to come out. Instead, he would just talk about random things - like what he ate for breakfast, or what he did before he came, and all the crazy things him and his classmates did. 

“You know, our class misses you a lot, Teach. Our sub is a nightmare, you know. And his humming isn’t as good as yours.” Claude had mused one day, and Byleth let out a sound that was in between a sob and a laugh.

Sothis could practically hear Claude light up from behind the door.

(“O-oh! Was that a laugh? Can I get one tap for yes, two taps for no?” Byleth tapped three times. “Three?! What’s three supposed to mean?!”)

Sothis could only hope that… Claude was enough to give Byleth the stepping stone to move forward - not on, but forward.

\---

Today was  _ really bad.  _

Byleth refused to get out of bed. Sothis tried to coax them to stand up and get dressed, at least, but they refused. They just burrowed under the covers as if they were trying to hide themselves from the world. 

Sothis ran a hand over her face, her gut coiling with worry. Was this normal with humans? She wasn’t sure - she… she didn’t remember. Why couldn’t she remember? She began to feel dizzy - as usual when she tried to remember something - and began to drift. 

Byleth needed help, if this wasn’t normal. 

How Sothis wished other people could see her sometimes.

(She didn’t want to admit it… but she had become quite attached to the person she was bound to.)

Sothis didn’t know how much time had passed - she only heard small sniffles and muffled sobs as she drifted in and out, and every single one of them broke her heart more than the last.

(Why am I feeling so intensely, Byleth was questioning themselves, overwhelmed by this sudden sea of emotion. Why, why, why?)

Then a couple of knocks were heard, and Sothis snapped back into it, her heart soaring.

“Hey, Teach.” Claude was speaking, no doubt wearing his cocky grin. “Knock for me so I know you’re there?”

Silence. After a couple of minutes, Claude tried again. “...Teach? I know you usually don’t go out of your room this early. Are you okay?”

Sothis grimaced at the obvious rising panic in Claude’s voice. Was the door locked? Could she… could she unlock it? Somehow? Unless it was turning back the hands of time, the goddess couldn’t really interact with real-world things. But… if something was wrong with Byleth…

She had to try. 

Sothis floated over to the door, immediately remembering how Byleth unlocked it every morning. She fiddled with the lock, smacking at it at first because her hand went right through it, but eventually, she was able to unlock the door, doing so with a loud click. She retreated back again, hoping Claude heard the click. 

“...um, Teach? Are you… is the door unlocked?” Claude murmured the last part to himself, then tested the door handle. When he found that the door wasn’t locked, he spoke up again, much to Sothis’ relief. “Teach? I’m coming in, okay? I’ll give you a minute to do whatever you need to do. If you need to do anything.”

The only thing Byleth did was sniffle and curl into a tighter ball on the bed. 

Sothis grew impatient quickly, stomping her foot on the ground. Claude needed to come in quickly! Something was wrong with Byleth! If something was wrong with them, and it was too late to fix it, Sothis didn’t know what she’d do -

The door creaked open, small rays of light filtering in from the door. Claude turned around and motioned for someone to calm down, then slipped in through the door so that as little of the room could be seen as possible from the outside. Sothis had floated over to Byleth, standing over them with a trembling lower lip. Claude’s green eyes flickered to where Byleth was laying, and he exhaled quietly through his nose. 

“Oh, Teach.” He said in a tone that Sothis had never heard before. It sounded… sad. Sothis backed up a little when Claude approached the bed, a frown on his face. 

Claude reached out and put his hand on Byleth’s head gently, obviously not sure if they were sleeping or just not getting out of bed. He seemed like he didn’t want to risk it, though, so he was quiet. Claude moved away from the bed silently, a sad smile on his face. “If you’re awake - I’ll be right back, okay? I promise. Don’t go anywhere.” 

Claude slipped out of the room, and Sothis sat on the floor, curling her legs up to her chest. 

Claude didn’t seem to be freaking out… so she assumed everything was okay with Byleth. But, even then… this couldn’t possibly be normal. She grew restless and stood up again, moving to the other side to check if Byleth was asleep. When she found that they were actually asleep (with dried tear tracks on their cheeks that made her heart clench painfully), she moved around and sat on the floor again, staring at the door, hoping that Claude would walk in soon. After what felt like forever, Claude walked in again, holding a bag on his arm, a glass of water and a plate of just bread. He put the water and bread on the nightstand, then reached into the bag. He pulled out a flower crown composed of the pink flowers from yesterday and put fiddled with it for a couple of seconds. Once he (probably) decided it was satisfactory, he set it on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed, careful not to disturb Byleth. 

And he sat there for a while.

Just when Sothis thought she was going to bang her head against the wall and scare the living daylights out of Claude, Byleth stirred, snapping Claude out of his daze and interrupting Sothis’ plans. Byleth groaned quietly and whispered out a soft, “Sothis?” before sitting up, coming face-to-face with Claude, who smiled softly. 

“Mornin’, teach. Brought you bread. And… a small present. You know - I asked Marianne about those flowers the other day, and they were pink roses.” He stood up from the bed, and Byleth sat up, still half-asleep and confused. “They mean… appreciation. And I wanted to give you this - all of the students in the Golden Deer house helped make it. We wanted to show you how much we… appreciate you, and care about you. I hope you can accept our gift.” Claude bowed while holding out the flower crown, and thankfully didn’t have the opportunity to see the professor’s face literally  _ crumble  _ in mere seconds. Sothis bit her lower lip as Byleth shakily took the flower crown presented to them, their chest heaving in an attempt to stop their sobs.

Claude came up with a bright grin, and Sothis would have laughed at the way it  _ dropped  _ if the situation had not been so sad. “Woah, woah! Teach - I didn’t mean to make you cry! Here - do you want a hug? Hugs are good for sadness - they say it’s the best medicine!” Claude babbled, sitting next to the now-sobbing Byleth with his arms open. Byleth blinked twice, then literally  _ fell  _ into Claude’s arms, not even flinching when Claude wrapped his arms around them like they usually did.

“It’s going to be okay, Byleth.” Claude said softly. “I promise you that.”

Sothis wasn’t sure how long the two sat there for, sniffles and muffled sobs filling the quietness of the room. She just knew that… it was working. Byleth’s cries eventually subsided, and then there was silence in the room, in which Claude was just hugging them without saying anything (for the first time.). 

“Feeling better?’ Claude asked after a while, pulling away slightly so that he could see Byleth’s face. Byleth simply nodded in reply, wiping their eyes. Their eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and Claude frowned. “No, no, I know what’s coming, and you’re not allowed to say “I apalogize”. That phrase is off limits until I say so, okay?” Byleth nodded again, and Claude smiled. “Good. It’s alright to cry, you know. Especially in this situation.” Byleth pressed their lips together slightly, curling their hands into fists. Claude shook his head, and Sothis was amazed at how easily Claude could read them. “It’s fine. I promise. This is normal - nothing is wrong with you.” The brunet smiled reassuringly. “I promise.”

Byleth let out a soft sigh and sat back as Claude spring up and began to lecture them on eating and drinking properly, especially in these times. As Claude spoke, Byleth’s eyes flickered over to Sothis, who was standing in the corner. She wiped her eyes and shot Byleth a relieved smile before disappearing from their sight, leaving them alone with Claude.

(Well… they were never really alone, they supposed.)

“Okay! Eat the bread - I don’t want you collapsing from malnourishment.”

Byleth took the bread with a ‘thank you’. 

Claude stayed with them the entire day. 

—-

...and the days after that.

The next day, Claude had brought Byleth out of their room and to the library, where Claude discusses his ‘conspiracy theories’ about the church and whatnot while Byleth flipped through a book. Sothis watched from a comfortable distance, relief flooding her veins. The following day, the two had gone fishing at the docks. Unfortunately for Claude, he had gotten a big fish on his hook and was pulled in rather than pulling out.

Getting him out of the pond was a chore and a half -

But Sothis could tell Byleth was in better spirits. Not good, but better - and that was enough.

More often than not, the two (well… three to Byleth) found themselves in that same field that they ate in, making flower crowns out of the different colored flowers they found there.

When Byleth tilted their head to the side slightly at Claude, Claude responded with ease, not even looking up from his current flower crown. “I was taught by Hilda. She wanted to make sure I could make her flower crowns for her birthday. Do you know how hard it is to find black flowers here?” Byleth’s eyebrows only rose a little. “It’s  _ so hard. _ ”

On days like today, the two stayed out until sunset, Claude filling in the silence with topics and discussions that the both of them liked and discussed frequently. It was when Claude took a breath that something happened that rightfully shocked both the brunet and the goddess.

“Wahoo.” 

Claude did a double take, and Sothis literally fell over.

“W-what?” Claude blinked, and Byleth gave him a small smile.

“I’m giving you that wahoo from a few days back. I apologize for… not being able to provide it earlier.”

Claude grinned happily, practically tackling Byleth in a hug. “Aw, Teach! You didn’t have to!” 

As Sothis watched the two practically wrestle on the ground, she smiled to herself, letting her worries finally subside.

For once, she felt like everything was going to be alright. 

**Author's Note:**

> whips this game kills me every time


End file.
